Representative Cases

The following is a selection of cases that represent the breadth of services of Arnold Law, including some interesting examples countered by some of the more “routine.” The client names have been removed to protect confidentiality. You can also take a look at the Firm News page to see the higher-profile matters.

Personal Injury

Product Liability – Zooma Scooter

Lawsuit against stand-up gas-powered scooter after handle bar welding failed, causing crash with elbow fracture. Plaintiff received a poor offer and then a dismal arbitration award. Plaintiff appealed to a jury trial. Jury trial result 25 times the arbitration award. Sometimes it takes a jury to sort out a case.

Product Liability/Wrongful Death – G-Max Motorcycle Helmet

Husband and wife were on their motorcycle when negligent driver pulled out in front of them. Wife’s helmet strap webbing failed and her helmet came off. She died of head trauma. Six figure settlement with G-Max distributor.

Farmers appeals arbitration award for a young man with soft tissue injuries to back. Josephine County awards more than arbitration award and several times more than Farmers’ offer. Defense counsel claims verdict is the highest soft tissue award ever for Josephine County.

MVA – Bike struck in crosswalk

Arbitrator rendered a defense verdict due to client riding bike faster than a walk and for entering crosswalk when it read “Don’t Walk.” Defendant was at a red light looking left when he made an unsignalled right turn without looking right. We appealed the arbitrator’s defense judgment and won. Jury found in favor of our client and awarded the requested damages.

Nursing Home Death

Complex litigation involving a for-profit nursing home where a CNA who failed to give anti-seizure medication to Vietnam War veteran several times. He died from seizure. Status: confidential settlement.

ODOT dump truck crashes into car in work zone

An elderly woman was following a dump truck into a work zone. The flagger failed to stop traffic as they entered the work zone and the truck failed to radio ahead that there was traffic with him. The truck pulled off the road while in the work zone and then re-entered the roadway without looking and struck the car causing injuries to her shoulder (requiring surgery on both). ODOT denied liability and paid for expensive litigation with tax funds before paying a reasonable settlement amount. Our firm employed a civil engineer with years of work zone experience to analyze the lack of a proper safety plan.

Wrongful Death – Drunk Driver Kills Teenage Girl

After a party in the hills, a drunk driver rolls his car off of an embankment, seriously injuring his passengers and killing our client’s teenage daughter. The car’s severely intoxicated owner and surviving passengers claim the decedent was driving. Our investigation uncovered a possible conspiracy between the kids to blame the girl who couldn’t speak for herself. The DA’s Office convicted the car owner for Furnishing Alcohol to a Minor but refused to have the blood in the car analyzed for DNA to establish who was driving. Arnold Law was able to seize the blood evidence, had DNA tests performed, and hired a passenger kinesiologist to determine the locations of the occupants based on blood location. The discovery of the car owner’s blood on the steering column led to a negotiated settlement between the injured occupants and the owner’s insurance company.

Wrongful Death – Woman Crushed by Trash Truck

Drunk Driver rear ends SUV on interstate

Driver who was impaired by alcohol ran into the back of SUV while traveling at a very fast rate of speed. Both vehicles were totaled and client’s back pain got progressively worse, resulting in a fusion surgery. The lawsuit alleged punitive damages for recklessness of driving drunk. Defendant filed for bankruptcy while case was pending. Ultimately the case settled for policy limits from the insurer and an excess judgment in bankruptcy court with a payment plan.

Hip replacement in a young man

Young father broke his hip in a car accident requiring a full hip replacement. Due to his young age, his life expectancy will likely exceed the life expectancy of his artificial hip. Arnold Law retained experts to opine to the likelihood of future surgeries and the associated costs. Case settled for policy limits against the adverse driver and policy limits for client’s under-insured motorist protection benefits.

DUII (Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants)

DUII – Commercial Driver License

Client was accused of DUII and Reckless Driving. Lissa Casey retained an expert to assist in his defense, helping our falsely accused client show the jury that he had not consumed more than one drink prior to driving. The State wrongly accused our client of crashing his vehicle, but Lissa was able to argue against that charge successfully as well, and the jury acquitted our client on both counts. Lissa’s litigation and trial strategy made it so our client could keep his Commercial Driver’s License.

DUII – Diversion Eligible Case Dismissal

Client charged with diversion eligible DUII. He decided to reject diversion and proceed to trial. Lissa successfully litigated pre-trial motions to get evidence suppressed. After the court ruled for the defense, the prosecutor decided to dismiss the case completely.

DUII – Eugene Railroad Tracks

Client accused of driving on to railroad tracks when officer finds client exiting from the driver’s side of a vehicle stuck on tracks 1/4 mile from the nearest road. Case dismissed after jury trial after discovery that law enforcement failed to investigate homeless witnesses who remember a woman driving a car through their bedroom at 3 a.m.

DUII – Cottage Grove Railroad Tracks

Client accused of turning down railroad tracks by mistake. Client claimed that the actual driver ran away from scene after getting stuck. Mistrial granted by judge then case dismissed after negotiations due to prosecutor failing to disclose a material witness who saw someone running from the direction of client’s car a few blocks away from tracks.

DUII – Refusal Due to Fear of Law Enforcement

Client refused to blow after having one of friend’s homebrew after work. Client’s refusal of FSTs and intoxilyzer was due to lack of trust of law enforcement. Jury acquitted (found not guilty) after three hours of deliberations.

DUII – Springfield Tavern Collision

Client accused of driving his truck into the side of the bar causing damage and then fleeing scene. Law enforcement arrested him later at his home after he had some drinks at home. After a two-day Springfield Municipal Court jury trial, where cross-examination focused on the police officers’ flawed investigation (by failing to investigate client’s claims of drinking at home AFTER driving), and after less than thirty minutes of deliberation, the jury found him not guilty of DUII. Client did not testify.

DUII – Car accident after Ducks game ends with dismissal

Client was seriously injured and required a hip replacement after a driver ran a stop sign and collided with his car. Despite client not being at fault in the accident, a blood draw at the hospital purportedly showed that client had a greater-than .08% BAC and he was cited for DUII. Arnold Law conducted an investigation of the hospital blood draw procedures and obtained the user guide for the hospital’s Beckman Coulter Chemistry Analyzer that was used for the blood test. We were prepared at trial to prove that Client’s BAC was on its way up, that there was a delay in blood vial being tested that likely resulted in fermentation of the sample, and that the hospital blood test was not as accurate as a crime lab blood test which was not performed in this case. The case was dismissed two days before the jury trial.

Diversion-eligible DUI dismissed

Client accused of DUI after being stopped for entering a crosswalk while stopping at a red light. Client’s breathalyzer result was .05%, and he was still accused of DUII. Case dismissed after client rejected diversion and decided to proceed to trial with aggressive defense strategy and several witnesses willing to testify to his lack of intoxication on the night in question. Case resolved with a plea to a traffic violation and a fine.

DUII/Hit and Run – Diversion on both counts

Client accused of Driving while Intoxicated, crashing, and fleeing the scene. Case ended with a diversion on both counts, saving client’s employment and allowing client to have clean criminal record.

DUII – Protecting professional licensing from state licensing board

Professional client was accused of driving while intoxicated and crashing into a utility pole with .15% blood alcohol content. Client had prior DUII diversion. Case ended with client being able to keep professional license, dismissal of all citations, and minimum sanctions allowed by law.

Criminal Defense

Manslaughter in 1st Degree | Tampering with Evidence – 45-minute not-guilty verdict after over two weeks of trial

Client found not guilty of Manslaughter in the First Degree and Tampering with physical evidence, and found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol by the five-women, seven-men Linn County jury in Albany in August 2013. The Manslaughter charge is a Measure 11 charge that would have resulted in a minimum of seven years, six months in prison if he were convicted. The charges stemmed from a fatal motorcycle accident in the early a.m. hours on September 24, 2011, on the Foster Dam Road in Sweet Home, resulting in the death of client’s fiancée and serious injuries to client, who was life flighted to the hospital.

In the 10-day trial, where over 30 witnesses were called, trial testimony focused on who was operating the motorcycle at the time of the fatal motorcycle accident.

This was a Jessica’s Law case where, if convicted, Client was facing a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 25 to 75 years in prison. Client passed a polygraph in the case and his attorney Lissa Casey conducted an investigation illustrating his actual innocence.

Commentary: “Our client is thankful for his release and dismissal of these terrible false accusations against him. He was a wrongfully accused innocent man who had three months of his life stolen from him due to lies and an incomplete investigation. Arnold Law’s investigation showed a lack of motive and lack of opportunity to commit the acts alleged against him.The Government’s incomplete investigation turned what should have been an uncomfortable family matter involving a very troubled child into an unjustly incarcerated man and placed unthinkable stress on his family. Our client looks forward to getting back to his life outside of custody with the support of his family and his fiancé and trying to move on after several months in custody for crimes he didn’t commit. However, it’s unfortunate that it took a diligent defense team and tens of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees to secure the dismissal of charges against an innocent man. In the future, I hope that prosecutors will conduct more thorough grand jury investigations that include witnesses that might not be helpful to ‘proving guilt.’ Grand juries need to be conducted as truth-seeking bodies that don’t charge crimes of this magnitude without hearing all relevant information.”

Firearms Self-Defense

Client was accused of Unlawful Use of a Weapon for pointing a firearm at someone in self-defense. After over a year of pre-trial litigation and several days of witness testimony, the jury returned a Not Guilty verdict after only 26 minutes of deliberation. That Not Guilty verdict saved our client from a potential felony conviction for acting lawfully in self-defense.

Burglary in the First Degree Dismissal

Client was accused of Burglary in the First Degree, facing a potential prison sentence if convicted. Lissa aggressively investigated the case and presented evidence of that investigation to the District Attorney, including evidence of our client’s disabilities. After her thorough investigation and aggressive litigation strategy, she convinced the District Attorney’s office to dismiss the case completely.

Domestic Violence Dismissal

Client accused of domestic violence with a knife by alleged victim who was suicidal. The only injuries to the alleged victim were from client trying to keep the alleged victim from harming herself. Lissa aggressively investigated the case and presented that evidence to the prosecutor. Although the prosecutor initially decided to still proceed to trial, he eventually decided to dismiss the case completely after considering the evidence Lissa obtained.

Federal Felon in Possession Dismissed

Federal criminal defense client was facing life in prison. After innovative motion practice regarding a Mongol informant, the federal case was dismissed in exchange for a state court probationary sentence with a downward departure…[Read More]

Harassment – Self-defense after being threatened by baseball bat and pepper spray – NOT GUILTY VERDICT

A Eugene Municipal Court jury found client not-guilty of physical harassment after 21 minutes of deliberations. Client accused of tackling a man in his estranged wife’s home and throwing him into the bushes after man confronted client with baseball bat and pepper spray. Accusations stemmed from a child custody dispute between the client and his estranged wife. Client did not testify.

Assault, Harrassment, and Reckless Endangering – Self-defense against gas station owner at the coast – NOT GUILTY VERDICT

Client accused of assaulting gas station owner and running over woman’s foot while leaving the scene. Vigorous cross-examination of the state’s six eye witnesses and two police officers, showed flaws in the investigation, a rush to judgment, biases of the witnesses, and faulty memories or lies. Client did not testify. After 47 minutes of deliberating, a Lincoln County jury found him not guilty of all charges.

Sex Abuse Case dismissed

Client charged with sexually abusing his employee. After an investigation showed that some of the complaining witnesses recanted their statements and motives for false accusations discovered, case dismissed before trial.

Client jailed with $1.68 million bail setting after being falsely accused of smothering his wife with a pillow and sexually assaulting two adoptive daughters, among other claims. The case eventually resolved with an Alford Plea to one count of coercion for allegedly forcing a remote control out of wife’s hands, which is expungeable at the end of probation, no additional jail time, and a dismissal of all remaining charges. After the dismissal, client was able to resume parenting time with his biological daugther and continue to be an active father.

Unlawful Use of Weapon – Menancing with Knife at Motel

Desert Storm veteran goes off medications for PTSD and has mental breakdown at a motel. He breaks a window and scares everyone, including law enforcement with K-Bar military knife. Resolved with a guilty plea to misdemeanors, payment of restitution to motel, no probation and no additional jail.

Assault II – Fractured Skull from Kicking

Client accused of punching man on bike and then fracturing his skull by kicking him after drinking at bar. “Witness” calls police and says that client did it. Client says that witness did it. Original offer, 24-months prison. Prison offer continues throughout next court appearances. Prosecutor settles for no prison a few days before trial.

Possession of Meth – the Empty Chair

Client accused of possession meth. She says it belonged to boyfriend who was driving. We move for mistrial which was granted after officer makes a statement contrary to a pretrial order.

Kidnapping/Robbery

ATM Three high-profile counts of kidnapping women and driving them to ATMs for them to withdraw money to fund heroin addiction. Prosecutor argues that client could face the rest of his life in prison but settles for 21-month lid. We conducted a several hours long sentencing hearing calling an expert witness on lack of future dangerousness as well as several witnesses to discuss client’s home life and addiction.

Sex Abuse – Church Youth Group Sex Abuse of Minor

Client admitted to having sex with a teenager that he met at a church camp. Settled for the non-registerable offense of Coercion, which was expungable after three years.

Possession of Cocaine – No File Due to Bad Warrant

We obtained the search warrant return and affidavit prior to DA reviewing the case. After pointing out the deficiencies in the warrant, no charges were filed.

Dog-at-Large – Llama castration via pit bull: civil compromise

Client’s pit bulls got loose and chased neighbor’s prize-winning llamas. One had to be put down and the other was unable to continue being the herd’s sire. The charges were dropped after a civil compromise was reached.

Delivery of Meth – Federal Court

Settled by an agreement to dismiss federal case in exchange for state court plea.

Attempted Sex Abuse I – Dismissed

Client accused of having unwanted sexual contact with a woman while she slept in a hotel room. After thorough defense investigation of witnesses to incident were presented to the DA, all charges were dismissed before trial.

DUII/Assault II – Running over Man at Bar While Driving Drunk

Convinced the DA that driver was fleeing an attempted assault and that “victim” was trying to keep him from leaving. All charges dismissed.

DV/Felony Assault IV – Menacing with Bag of Potatoes

Client facing several years in prison for second assault conviction against his wife. Global settlement included less than one-year in prison and future parenting time with his children.

Criminal Trespass at Bar – Bar Fight Gone Bad

Bail forfeiture and dismissal

Criminal Mistreatment I (Felony) – Elder Abuse at Nursing Home

Dismissal after our expert medical witness found that injuries were consistent with client’s version of what happened.

Assault – Broken Nose at Football Game

Self-defense claim by college girl accused of punching season ticket holder in the nose with right cross. Diversion agreement; no conviction.

Theft- “Stolen” wallet from grocery store

Little old lady accidentally grabs a misplaced wallet after emptying her purse at the pharmacy. When she gets home, she discovers it and makes phone calls based on the business cards inside to find the owner. She finds a Costco card and turns it in there to see if they could call the owner. Overreaching government investigators and prosecutor spend tax dollars attempting to convict her of a theft crime. Arnold Law aggressively defends. Result: Dismissed days before the jury trial.

Harassment dismissed

Client accused of Harassment at an outdoor music festival. Case resolved with a plea to a violation and a fine, preventing any criminal conviction at all in the case.

Civil Litigation

Sexual Harassment Defense – Hospital Administrator Stalking

Arnold Law defended the administrator of a hospital who pursued a relationship with a young woman who was apparently giving him mixed signals. Before contacting our firm he was convicted of a criminal stalking charge and lost a stalking order trial. She then sued him for $500,000 claiming sexual harassment, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In a Marion County jury trial after a brutal cross-examination of the plaintiff and picking apart their psychologist expert, we won a defense verdict.

Wrongful Use of Civil Proceedings Defense – Elder Abuse Gone Bad

Arnold Law defended a woman in United States District Court who was accused of wrongfully initiating an elder abuse case in state court. Plaintiff was wife of client’s brother. Brother stole substantial assets from their father while he was infirm. Client received a large verdict against brother in state court but sister-in-law received a defense verdict. Sister-in-law then sued in federal court. We won a defense verdict after a jury trial in federal court.

Undue Influence – Stealing Mobile Home Park from non-profits

An elderly woman suffering from dementia was coerced into changing her will to leave all of her assets to the managers of the mobile home park she owned. Previously, the woman graciously left substantial assets to family and several non-profit organizations. Our firm represented several of the nonprofits. After a thoroughly diligent investigation by the firm turned up a material witness in California, depositions quickly turned into a settlement conference. A six-figure settlement occurred thereafter.

The Lane County Sheriff’s Office made some incorrect assumptions about the guilty of our twelve-year-old client and coerced him into a false confession for the shooting of a neighbor’s dog. They even made him demonstrate how he did it with his pellet gun. Ballistics tests proved that his gun did not fire the bullet but the results were not disclosed to client’s juvenile delinquency lawyer for an unreasonable amount of time. During that time, he faced ridicule and embarrassment. We sued the county and school district in federal court. After discovery and numerous depositions, the defendants agreed to have judgments entered against them and paid… [read more here].

Civil jury trial in Lane County circuit court resulting in a reduced damages verdict far less than what was requested by plaintiff.

Rural Easement Dispute – Defense of easement obstruction

Law firm attorneys defended a rural couple in a complex easement and breach of contract dispute with several counterclaims and third-party claims involving a non-profit and corporate landowner. After several site visits with expert witnesses, Arnold Law petitioned the court to force the unreasonable plaintiff to a settlement conference when plaintiff was stating that there was no way to settle the claims. After site visits with Arnold Law’s expert witnesses, we were able to boil down this complicated case with several years of relevant facts to only a few salient factual and legal issues. This analysis proved crucial in resolving the claims with a settlement several weeks before trial, saving the clients tremendous amounts of attorney fees.

Copyright Infringement – Federal trial for stolen website content

We inherited a federal copyright infringement case from a retiring attorney who failed to plead “jury trial” in federal court. The defendants claimed that they didn’t steal the content that they duplicated on their website but instead received it from a firm in the country of Namibia in Africa. Their story was destroyed after we were able to coordinate an international video perpetuation deposition of the owner of the firm in Namibia. The judge found a copyright infringement and awarded statutory damages.

We represented an Oregon rancher whose cattle were killed by endophyte poisoning from grass seed screening pellets. We were able to retain the best expert in the world on endophytes who just happened to be a professor at OSU. Extensive and highly technical discovery was conducted and ultimately the case settled for damages before trial.

We inherited a year-old trade secret case three months before a scheduled jury trial where the prior attorneys failed to receive any discovery from the primary defendant and failed to achieve depositions of essential out-of-state witnesses. Arnold Law was able to jump into a highly contentious case involving hundreds of thousands of documents to be reviewed and countless trial issues. We were able to coordinate experts ranging from electrical engineers to trade secret damages experts to intellectual property experts while simultaneously defending against motions against the pleadings while conducting a global investigation involving witnesses stretching from Maryland to China to Belgium, all while preparing for trial. We were able to assist the client in this massive undertaking while assisting them with an exit strategy from this costly litigation.

Civil Sexual Harassment Defense – case dismissed with no damages paid

Successful businessman client civilly sued for sexually harassing plaintiff, his employee, also a family member by marriage. After discovery process completed, Arnold Law negotiated a dismissal of all claims with no damages paid by our client and released client from future litigation, saving client from trial process and thousands of dollars in attorney fees defending against unfounded allegations.

Stalking Order – Lying about Rape to Gain Custody

Negotiated a dismissal and a mutual no-contact agreement after discovering that petitioner made similar allegations against another employer in California.

Stalking – Young woman files after older man stops buying her things

Young woman lied about stalking incidents to gain a stalking order to spite her much older friend who bought her car, surgery, etc. Petitioner lied to the court; the firm proved the lies in trial and case dismissed.

Stalking Order – Dismissed

Mother obtained stalking order on Father to keep him from seeing his child for weeks. We were able to demonstrate motives for obtaining a stalking order to gain advantage in a custody case to keep child from Father. After Mother put on her case and she and her witnesses were cross-examined, judge dismissed the order without requiring any evidence or testimony from Father at all.

Restraining Order – Upheld with Attorney Fee Award

Husband took Restraining Order out on Wife after she applied for one to protect herself from him. After a hearing on both orders, Wife’s Order was upheld, Husband’s Order dismissed, and Husband ordered to pay all attorney fees for the firm’s time on the case.

Family Law

Marijuana Use Prohibited Immediately Preceding and During Parenting

Even though Oregon has legalized marijuana, being high while your child is in your care is not acceptable to Judges. Jacy Arnold successfully litigated a case that prohibited Father from using marijuana twenty-four hours prior to the exercise of Father’s parenting time and prohibited Father from using marijuana at all during his parenting time.

Custody – Alienation by Mother

Mother filed false stalking order against father. We won custody for father by showing that mother was making false accusations to gain advantage in the custody case.

Hidden Asset Divorce – Tracking down values of foreign corporations

Jacy Arnold represented wife. Discovery from husband appeared to be missing many documents and assets. Motions to compel were granted and Jacy was able to track down foreign corporations hidden by husband, stretching from the Netherlands to southeast Asia. Result: Substantial financial settlement was obtained for client.

Father’s Rights—Parental Alienation with a Bumpy Past

Obtained custody for Father after Mother filed a frivolous restraining order against Father and absconded with the children from Oregon to prevent Father from having contact with the children. Of special importance in this case was Mother and Father’s history of domestic violence and drug abuse. Father had completed his probation and treatment, and had achieved many months of sobriety. We were able to show the court through multiple hearings that he had been rehabilitated, had prepared to be the primary parent and was acting in the children’s best interests by seeking custody. We were able to get the restraining order dismissed, safely retrieve the children and return them to Oregon, and obtained orders to both safeguard Father’s relationship with the children and protect the family from future drug use and domestic violence.

Father’s Rights—Abusive Wife Flees with baby

Obtained custody for Husband and a safety focused parenting plan restricting Wife’s access after Wife disappeared from the marital home with the parties’ one-year old child. Wife had a history of drug and alcohol use, and had previously physically abused both Husband and the child. Ms. Gardner helped Father obtain emergency custody of the child under the Immediate Danger statute, located the child, and coordinated with law enforcement agencies and the Department of Human Services to safely bring the child home.

Father flees with children to Oregon—conflicting jurisdiction

In a contentious California divorce, Husband took the children for a short visit and then fled in secret with the children to Oregon, where he filed for divorce and custody of the children despite a pending divorce case in California and previous orders from the California court granting mother physical possession of the children while the case was pending due to past abuse by Husband against Wife. We helped the frantic Wife safely retrieve the children, and convinced the Oregon court after multiple days in trial to stay the custody proceeding in Oregon pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), allowing the California case to proceed. Wife returned to California safely with the children.

Special Needs Parenting Time

The years of physical and verbal abuse against Mother by Father adversely impacted the parties’ high functioning special needs child, who as a teenager began to exhibit alarming violent and sexualized behaviors at school as well as regression in communication and hygiene when Father sought to enforce his parenting time after an absence of several years. At trial, Father disputed the child’s diagnosis and blamed Mother for the child’s sexualized behavior. With the support and information provided by the child’s school teachers, therapists, community support group and friends called by Arnold Law to testify at trial, the Court crafted a child-centric parenting plan for the benefit of this troubled teen and ended Father’s cyclical aggressive contact with the child.